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N. 0 N G I T A M L. m M m MEANS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS. v

No. 605,231. Patented June 7, 189B 1,1 6,/ Jrg/'2222* MMM ma Noms P :Tsns co. PnorcLLm-w., wAsHmsToN, n, c.

(No Model.) 2 ySheets-Sheet` 2.

L. MATIGNON. MEANS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS. No. 605,231. Patented June 7,1898. J

NITED STATES 'i PATEToFFICE.

MEANS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 605,231, dated J' une '7, 1898. Application led November 30, 1,897.y Serial No. 660,208. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Beit known that I, LAURENT MATIGNON, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at La Garenne-Colombes,France, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Means for Raising Sunken Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

lt is well known that the raisingof sunken vessels is an operation which with the means heretofore employed presents difficulties which are often insurmountable. It has been proposed to employ for this purpose floats constituted by vessels or receivers filled with air or gas and attached to the `sunken vessel for the purpose of raising it to the surface of the water; but this conception can hardly be said to have passed into theY domain of common practice because of the difficulty of combining all the elements of the apparatus employed in such manner as to produce at the desired moment the necessary lifting power.

The present invention, which is based upon the employment of acetylene, resolves this problem in amanner as simple as practicable. lt is characterized by the placing around the vessel to be raised of a certain number of floats, each of which is furnished with a gen: erator of acetylene organized in the manner hereinafter described, whereby atthe precise moment when it may be desired to prod uce the lifting the simultaneous operation of all the generators may be produced under thecontrol of means at a distance from the vessel, the generators being thus made to produce at once and rapidly a sufficient quantity of acetylene to inflate or fill their corresponding floats, and to thus create the ascensional force necessary for the lifting of the vessel.A

Each of the acetylene-generators consists of a receiver which contains a sufficient quantity of carbid to produce at least the volume of acetylene necessary for the lling of the corresponding float. This generator is in communication by a wide opening with the floatspace which it is required to fill with acetylene, audit is', moreover, provided with a wide water-inlet, which is normally closed by a valve. The valves of the generators are so applied and combined that they maybe all opened simultaneously from a distant pointfor example, from a vessel acting as a tender.

If the floats are constituted by supple or elastic receivers, they are sunk empty .and attached to the sides of the vessel and the acetylene-generators are adapted to them externally. If, on the contrary, the floats are con stituted by rigid receivers,they are filled with water to facilitate their descent, and the generators are preferably arranged in the interior of the receivers themselves. The opening for the delivery of the acetylene thereinto is then Valso closed by a valve, which opens at the same time as the valve which admits the water to the generator. The gas which is delivered by this orifice into the re-` ceiver drives out the water from the latter by an evacuation-valve.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an apparatus embodying my invention.

Figure 1 represents a side view of a sunken vessel equipped with means for floating it. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of one of the generators anda portion of the float to which it is attached. Fig. 3 represents a horizontal section of the iioat in the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 represents in section a portion of a float with rigid walls containing its generator. Fig. 5 represents a portion of .a float and its contained acetylene-generator and a boat on which is a key for closing an electric circuit for opening the inlet-valveof the generator.

A A designate the floats, either inflatable or having rigid walls, which the divers have just attached to thesides of the vessel, spacing them in such l'manner that when they act as floats their action will be well distributed. These lioats are provided each with a generator of acetylene-such as B, Figs. 2 and 3.

. This generator B consists of a cylindrical `:receiver having its upper part connected with a iioatA and communicating therewith through a wide opening b. This receiver is vSo furnished in its lower part with a tubular-w` t water-inlet C, which isV normallyV closed-bia valve D. The receiver B, to which is adapted at a convenient point a safety-valve N, has within it a cylindrical compartmentlhlpthe walls of which are'perforated, which is intended to receive a perforated basket F for containing carbid,the said basket beingintroduced through the bottom of the receiver and being secured in place in any suitable manner,by which a hermetical joint may be formed IOO at the bottom of the receiver. The cylindrical compartment E is arranged eccentrically within the recever B in'such manner as to leave within the latter, on the side where the valve D is situated, a space Gr, which facilitates the rapid arrival of water upon the mass of carbid.

The water-inlet valve D is preferably con-` said piston is pushed downward to a position to close the valve by a spring I in such manner that under normal conditions its lower edge makes a hermetical joint against the leather washer J, whichl is supported at the bottom of the cylinder H by an annular shoulder j. The said piston is furnished with a rod D', by the aid of which it may be manipulated from a distance by any convenient meansfor example, electrically. In the latter case the piston-rod Dl will carry the armature of an electromagnet K, Fig. 4, the

circuit k of which may be closed from a disl hermetic seal between the said opening and tant point-as, for example, by a circuit-closer S on a boat T, as illustrated by Fig. 5. When this circuit is closed, the magnet attracts the armature and produces the opening of the valve.

As I have already stated, the (ioats are lowered empty to be attached to the walls of the vessel when they consist of supple, elastic, y The generator is then adapted thereto externally, as shown in Figs. i l and 2, in order that the sea may flow into or iniiatable vessels.

the generator when the opening of its valve D is produced.

When the floats are constituted by receivers having rigid walls, they are filled with' water to facilitate their sinking. In this case the generator is arranged in the interior of i the float, as in Fig. 4. When the water-inlet valve is opened, the water from the float flows into the generator and the gas, which is thus disengaged and which escapes into the receiver by the opening ZJ, presses down the l water 1n the receiver and drives it out th rough an evacuation-valve L.

time as the water-inlet valve. This valve at the opening b may be similar to the valve D and may be opened by an electromagnet Kit,

placed in a branch of the circuit 7c, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

The floats A may be attached to the vessel in any appropriate manner. They may, for

example, as shown in Fig. l, be placed in nets connected with each other and furnished with goose-feet, to which to attach chains M to pass under the vessel to connect the floats on the two sides thereof. The floats might also be attached to two metallic belts surrounding the vessel at dierent heights. To permit the placing of these belts when the vessel lies on its side, it may first be righted by attaching to it two or three floats, such as A, which may be inliated or filled with acetylene in the manner previously described.

When the vessel has been equipped for raising, it is sufficient to draw simultaneously all the manipulating-cords of the valves or to close simultaneously by means of a suitable circuit-closer all the circuits k to produce the opening of all the valves, the disengagement of the acetylene, the filling of all the floats by the gas, and consequently the automatic lifting of the vessel.

What I claim as my invention is l. In an apparatus for raising sunken vessels, the combination of a float, an acetylenegenerator connected and having communication with said float and comprising a cylindrical receiver containing an eccentric compartment with perforated walls and an opening in its bottom, a perforated basket for carbid adapted to be introduced into said compartment through the said opening, a

2. In an apparatus for raising sunken ves- Y sels, the combination of a float, an acetylenegenerator attached to and having communication with said float, a valve for admitting water to said generator, a normally open electric circuit in which is an electromagnet the armature of which is attached to said valve, a circuit-closer in said `circuit and means for operating said circuit-closer at a point above the level of the water distant from the vessel and float, substantially as herein described.

3. In an apparatus for raising sunken vessel-s, the combination of a float having rigid walls, an acetylene-gas generator within said iioat, a water-escape valve in said oat, a second valve between said 'float and generator for the admission to the latter of water from the former, a third valve between said iioat and generator to admit to the former acetylene gas from the latter, and means for operating the said second and thirdvalves from a point above the level of the water distant from the vessel and iioat, substantially as herein described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. LAURENT MATIGNON. Witnesses:

HENRY THIEssE, EDWARD l. MACLEAN.

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